The New Deal Legislative Actions - Assignment Example

An example of this is the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The Act was originally passed in 1933 as a means to allow the federal government to provide much-needed assistance to farmers in the form of payments to them in exchange for certain agreements that would have them lint their acreage or production in the areas of wheat, cotton, rice, tobacco, corn, hogs, and numerous dairy products. The payments themselves were to be financed on taxes that would be imposed on processors. It was those taxes that were collected that would then be sent directly to the farmers in exchange for their promise not to grow any more food. One major processor, Butler, refused to pay the tax because it was seen as a way of transferring wealth from one person to another. The Supreme Court eventually sided with Butler, making the Act unconstitutional. Congress immediately set to work, however, on drafting a new Agricultural Adjustment Act in 1934. This one taxed processors, but then placed the money into the general fund of the federal government. The farmers were then simply paid out of the general fund, again, not to grow food. The Act was legal and was not challenged, exemplifying Roosevelt's perseverance in getting provisions of the New Deal passed and declared Constitutional.